Early Snow
by kakashikrazy256
Summary: A Kid heist at a ski resort on an important night ends in an avalanche incident. And as if Shinichi's luck wasn't bad enough before, he is stuck with a certain someone. A Christmas fic, enjoy :)


**Early Snow**

**Hey guys! Happy Holidays and have a Merry Christmas tomorrow! ^^ I wrote a Christmas story last year but never got a chance to finish it and now I don't even remember the plot of it anymore ;A; Well I felt guilty about that so I decided to write a long oneshot this year, that way, I will finish it!**

**This story was written because I was suppose to go on a ski trip today but we changed our mind and we're going to Boston instead. And two of my friends are going skiing…so yeah I was pretty upset about this so I decided to write this story and just pretend I went on a ski trip. XD So yep, currently submitting this story with love from Boston!**

**Do enjoy and have a wonderful, fluffy holiday ^^**

The deities must hate him. Shinichi decided as he groaned.

He had deduced this a while ago. When he had shrunk two years ago, when he had finally turned back but got rejected by Ran two months ago. His luck hadn't turned since then. And every day was met with several murders.

And for the first time since he had returned, there was a Kid heist.

Ran had been angry when he told her about Conan. She had refused to talk to him for a few weeks and Sonoko was at his throat every time she saw him. When Ran finally sat down to speak with the detective, she said she has forgiven him but they will be friends and only friends.

It took a lot of convincing from Ran for Sonoko to reluctantly allow Shinichi to join them to a ski resort owned by the Suzuki Corporation, which was also the location of the Kid heist.

The detective was secretly overjoyed to be able to take part in a heist. When the Organization takedown was in process, he had skipped out on many heists. This was probably his first one in almost half a year.

It was fairly amusing. The prize of the night was a necklace belonging to the rich young heiress of a French aristocratic family.

She sought out Shinichi fifteen minutes before the heist and they conversed for several minutes. She was a fairly nice young lady with a sarcastic sense of humor. A minute before the announced time of heist, her father in France had called her and she excused herself in a hurry.

Kid appeared a few seconds later and the chase began.

Shinichi hadn't experience this much adrenaline since the takedown. He welcomed it warmly as he grinned, chasing the thief.

Kid had leaded them all on a wild chase that brought them to places that the detective didn't even know existed in a ski resort.

Soon he and the task force spilt off into separate ways after the task force made a sharp turn to chase a dummy.

After a few minutes, Shinichi also lost the thief. Looking around, he realized he had wandered almost a mile away from the main resort.

"Damn it." He checked his phone and found not even one bar of signal. Well, he was glad he wore a jacket before he left for the heist. The wind was biting cold and even with the jacket, he shivered.

He turned around to start heading back when he heard a crunch of snow. He turned around and his eyes widen.

"M-miss Stanfield! W-what are you doing here?" The heiress looked very flushed and surprised.

"K-Kudo-san!" Her slightly accented Japanese came in a light soprano voice.

"What are you doing out here at such a late time?" Shinichi plodded through the snow to reach her.

"Ahehehe, I'm not quite sure. I came out for some more privacy when talking to my father and I guess I ended up wandering too far away. I'm hopeless when it comes to direction." She smiled sheepishly and Shinichi sighed in exasperation.

"You aren't dressed appropriately for this cold weather! You'll freeze." He pointed to the long-sleeved dress she was wearing complemented with stockings and boots.

"Ah! I must've forgotten my jacket!" She exclaimed and shivered slightly.

"Well, I think we should head back. Kid had stolen your necklace, unfortunately." He turned around and started walking towards what he thinks is the right direction.

"Ehhh! ...That's too bad...it was given to me as a present." She sighed.

Shinichi twitched, so it was normal to receive priceless jewelry as a present?

He jumped slightly when he heard the heiress scream. He whipped around and saw her face down in the snow, struggling to get up.

"Miss Stanfield..." He reached his hand out and pulled her to her feet.

"I'm so sorry. I'm not always like this. It's just the snow." She apologized; her face still had that deep flush to it.

"It's alright, I won't tell a single soul." He smiled and glanced at the slowly darkening sky. They continue walking.

/

Shinichi checked his phone again and frowned. It had been over half an hour and the main resort was still nowhere in sight, his phone still had no signal and skies had turned a dark grey as snow fell in a moderate pace.

"Kudo-san...are we lost?" The heiress asked after another few minutes of watching the detective stare at his phone nervously.

"E-eh? O-of course not...I was just wondering...it's almost ten. It would be dangerous to keep walking in this forest."

"Y-you're right...hey, there's a cabin over there! Maybe we can ask them for directions!" She asked gleefully, pointing to a small wooden cabin about fifty meters away.

"I told you we're not lost..." Shinichi muttered to himself as he followed the excited heiress. He shined his watch towards the direction of the cabin and observed it. There were no lights on and he doubt that anyone occupied it. But he couldn't just refuse the heiress.

They were halfway there when a soft rumbling made Shinichi alert. He turned his head and saw nothing.

"Kudo-san?" The girl asked, following the detective's gaze.

"I-it's nothing." He stared some more before continuing towards the cabin.

The rumble came again and it was much louder.

He gasped when he turned around and realized what it was.

"Miss Stanfield, RUN!"

The heiress turned around and her violet eyes widen.

Before Shinichi could comprehend anything, the girl grabbed his hand tightly and dragged him into a mad sprint away from the incoming disaster.

He could hear the roaring wave of snow coming towards them only several feet away.

Within a minute, the cabin was just meters away.

The snow had picked up quite a bit. It pushed against Shinichi's feet and he fell over.

The heiress was just about to put her hand on the knob when the detective fell against her back and she began to fall as well.

He watched her hand push against the door. And then the scenery suddenly changed. It was all dark and the rumbling was reduced to a small hum.

He groaned and shook his head.

Yep the deities must hate his guts.

"M-miss Stanfield? Are you alright?" He called out, trying to squint and see in this total darkness.

"Um...Kudo-san, I am fine...but I would really appreciate it if you would get off of me." The voice came from right below him and he gasped, immediately jumping off.

"I-I'm sorry." He began with a stammer. He heard shuffling and clicked his flashlight watch on. He watched the heiress smooth out her outfit and shake her head slightly to get the snow off.

"Are you alright Kudo-san?" The French girl winced at the sudden light and Shinichi quickly pointed it towards the floor.

"Yes I made it somehow, how about you Miss Stanfield?"

"Huh? Oh um I'm fine." She smiled and Shinichi watched her for another moment before sighing.

"How long are you going to keep this charade going?" He scowled slightly, sitting back. The detective could still hear the soft rumbling and the cabin itself shook every now and then. He wondered how long the place would hold up. The heiress was silent for a moment before she chuckled slyly.

"When did you figure it out?" She looked up with a smirk, the petite lady-like appearance disappearing, making her look like your typical high school delinquent.

"Since I first saw you, was it really wise to run up to me right before the heist?"

"Well, I wanted to see if the disguise was working well. But heh, trying to fool you is no fun if you're not fooled." She pouted and Shinichi rolled his eyes.

"It was your make-up. In an interview, Katherine Stanfield stated that she only uses a certain brand of makeup. This makeup is only found in France and costs quite a lot. It was obvious that your makeup is different from that expensive brand…also your wig is messed up." He pointed to the blonde hair that was slowly hanging off the side of the heiress' head, allowing some brunette locks to show.

"Tch, tantei-kun is no fun. I had no choice, that brand is extremely hard to find!" In a puff of smoke, Katherine Stanfield disappeared and in her place was the Kaitou Kid, who was currently rubbing some eye shadow off his uncovered eye.

"You didn't even have a disguise mask this time. My my Kaitou-san, it's not like you to do a half-assed job." Shinichi smiled and Kid deadpanned.

"Face masks will crack in this cold. I had no choice." Kid explained vaguely and stood up.

"Tantei-kun, I'm sure you have MANY more TASTEFUL remarks about me but I don't think this is an appropriate time for it." He went straight for the window next to the door. It was just pure luck that the door had closed on its own before any snow rushed in. The window was blacked out with snow and he frowned. Putting a hand on the knob, he tried to push the door open.

"No good, it won't budge. To think that an avalanche would happen at a time like this…" The thief muttered to himself.

Shinichi watched Kid sit back down on the floor. He had noticed it before but he didn't say anything. But…Kid felt off… He thought back to when he was still under the guise of Miss Stanfield. There was no reason for returning as the heiress. Maybe the thief did it to mess with the detective but it was completely unnecessary. And Kid never did anything for no reason.

He thought back to when 'Miss Stanfield' fell into the snow. It could have been Kid playing up the cutesy clumsy heiress but again, there was no reason to.

He raised the flashlight watch inconspicuously and studied Kid's face. Even in the dim light and the top hat shadowing most of his features, he could see that the thief's face was flush red. It had been that shade of red even when he was disguised as Stanfield.

"Your face is red." Shinichi stated after a moment and Kid blinked before smirking.

"Of course it is meitantei! I spent more than an hour out in the cold and you didn't even offer your jacket! Didn't your mother ever teach you to be a gentleman?" Kid's face turned into an expression of mock hurt and the detective twitched.

"I knew it was you all along. And if you knew it was going to be below freezing, you would have had the common sense to wear a coat!" Kid tsked and waggled a gloved finger at him.

"However, the only coat Miss Katherine Stanfield wears is a white mink! Where was I supposed to find one at this hour? I may be a thief meitantei but jewels are the only things that I take!"

"You couldn't have borrowed the jacket or makeup?" Shinichi muttered, rubbing his fingers together.

"I couldn't do that..." At Kid's quiet tone, Shinichi's mind raced before the pieces clicked.

"She's still in France!?" Shinichi roared and Kid grinned sheepishly.

"Her plane was cancelled last minute due to the amount of snow. All I had to do was intercept her calls made to Nakamori-keibu. She had sent her necklace a week earlier because Jirokichi-san insisted on putting it on display as the main attraction for the resort before I steal it."

"And when did you find this out? At the airport an hour before the heist?"

"Well-"

The conversation came to an end when Shinichi's flashlight began to flicker.

"Tch, we need to find another source of light before we lose this one." Shinichi took a breath, seeing it float away in white puffs. The temperature was dropping dramatically.

"This, if I recall is one of the private winter cabins that the ski resort rents out to families for the entire winter season. There are multiple scattered around the resort." Kid wondered out loud.

"Then, whoever was here should have left something before they moved out." The detective shined his dying light around. They must be in a living room of some sort. There was nothing around except a fireplace built into the wall.

"There's a candle holder." Shinichi pointed and Kid picked it up and examined it.

"The candle seems a bit old but it'll work." The thief reached into his pocket and took out a box of matches.

"What kind of normal person carries around matches?" The detective muttered as he watched the thief light the candle. It was barely noticeable but were his hands trembling? ...Nah...It can't be.

Kid set the candle on the floor before sitting down himself.

"Nakamori-keibu and the others didn't see you change directions and come after me. They might not know that you came this way. It will be a while before they-" The thief stopped and Shinichi looked up with a questioning stare. Kid had one gloved hand in front of his mouth, his eyes closed and narrowed.

"Kid?"

"Sorry, ah it would be a while before they find us here." The magician removed the hand from his mouth and smiled.

"There must be some way to notify them. Without a heater or any source of warmth, we'll freeze to death in a few hours."

"You came here with Ran-san and Suzuki-san right? They will figure out you're missing in due time." Shinichi narrowed his eyes, he guessed that was true. Sonoko probably wouldn't care but he knew that Ran would. Even if nothing could ever come out of their relationship, the girl would still care about him.

He heard the thief take another strange breath and looked up. Kid was doing the same thing he was doing before, his hand covering his mouth, a pained expression plastered across his face.

"Are you hurt somewhere?" Shinichi leaned over, carefully avoiding the small flame of their only light source.

"N-no, I'm fine. And of course I'm hurt meitantei! I'm stuck here on such a special night!"

"What's so special about tonig-" The detective was cut off by a bone chilling roar of wind, the candle went out. Snow flurries were whipping around harshly and he cursed, putting an arm in front of his face.

"Shit! Where is that coming from?" He yelled over the noise and watched Kid stand up.

"There's a second floor to this cabin. A window upstairs must've opened. With the avalanche piling on top, snow is probably rushing into the cabin as we speak." The thief cursed.

"I'll go-"

"No, tantei-kun. I'll go." With that said, the thief set off on a sprint up the wooden staircase.

Shinichi listened to the thumping on footsteps and sat back down. He felt around for the candle stick and hoped it would still work.

So what was so special about today? Well it had been a heist but that shouldn't be anything special for the thief.

The detective wondered if the thief had someone at home, waiting every night for him to come back with a smug smile and the prize of the night in his hands.

Well, Shinichi thought with a dry smile, at least the thief can keep his promises and always return home to love ones. Unlike how he was with Ran.

He blinked when the wind finally stopped and the snowflakes stopped flying in a frenzy.

"He must've gotten to that window then." The detective waited for the sound of the thief's footsteps again. He waited for the magician to appear at the bottom of the steps with a grin.

But there was silence.

With a frown, Shinichi got off the floor and winced at how stiff he had become. The cold was definitely starting to make its effects noticeable.

"Kid?" He walked over to the staircase hesitantly. The thief had already closed the window, so what the hell was he doing up there? He squinted, trying to see the top of the staircase.

"Kid, where are you?" He started to climb up a step and a thud sounded on the top of the staircase.

"R-right here meitantei." He gave a breathy laugh, his voice was soft and slightly hoarse.

"What the hell took you so lon-WOAH" In a blink of an eye, Shinichi found himself with a handful of Kid in his arms.

The sudden weight was unexpected and the detective fell back on the floor.

"Oi...Kid?" He whispered, cursing the darkness. The thief in his arms was wet and trembling nonstop.

"Heh, the room with the window was filled to the brim with snow. If we didn't shut it, the snow would have completely packed the cabin. I closed the room door so the snow wouldn't leak down to the first floor." The Kaitou put a hand to his mouth but this time, his cough did not go unnoticed.

"You're covered in snow." He reached up and brushed the cold wetness from the thief's head. The top hat must've been lost in the sea of snow upstairs. All Shinichi could feel was spiky locks of hair.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious. I was just in a room of it."

"This isn't the time to be a smartass." Shinichi scowled and reached into Kid's inner jacket pocket, pulling out the matches. They were fairly dry and he lit the burnt out candle again.

Now with a light source, he could see the terrible shape the thief was in. Snow is stuck to almost every part of his body and his face was even more flushed than before.

"You're sick." Shinichi stated and nearly wanted to kick a soccer ball at his own face. How the hell hadn't he noticed before? The reason Kid's heist tonight had been so half assed. The reason the thief was all red in the face, the reason he had that pained expression on his face. The thief was ill. And he had been too ignorant to notice.

"I-it's fine. J-just a chill." Kid insisted and began to push away from the detective's hold. As he moved he swayed, his lilac eyes widened a bit before hazing over.

"Fine, huh?" Shinichi smirked, catching the thief before he could hit the ground and pulled him closer to his chest, trying to preserve as much heat as possible. But all sarcasm aside, this was not looking good. He couldn't afford haven't the thief sick right now. With the temperature dropping every few minutes, Kid would freeze to death in a matter of hours.

"Hold still." The detective ordered and slowly began to shrug off half his jacket with one hand.

"W-what are you doing?" Kid breathed heavily, watching the teen warily.

"Making sure you're not dying on my watch, barou." He hissed when his hand brushed against Kid's soaking wet suit jacket.

"Take that off."

"E-excuse me?" Shinichi found it funny how easily the thief dropped his so called poker face when in a muddled state of mind.

"There is no point in putting on a jacket when the clothes underneath it is wet, right? Or can you change into something dry in your state of mind?"

"I can!" The magician muttered indignantly. Shinichi scooted away, blatantly asking the thief to do so. The latter glanced at him suspiciously and refused to move and the detective sighed.

"I promise I won't try to unmask you or figure out your identity. In this situation…I think it would be best to call a truce, agreed?" The thief was blinking quickly and Shinichi wondered if he had even heard him right. But he must have, since with a slight of hand the Kid uniform had disappeared and Kid was now wearing a dark shirt and jeans with sneakers.

Immediately, Shinichi tried to avoid staring at his face. That was a difficult task since observing people's facial appearances and movements were like the detective's second nature.

Noticing that Kid's body was still trembling, he scooted over again and pulled the thief into his arms, back flushed against his chest.

"Meitantei…if people were to find out that you willingly went up to the Kaitou Kid for a cuddle, I'm sure they'd think you gone insane." Kid chuckled, which resulted in a fit of coughs.

"Shut up already!...And if they do think I am insane…it's from spending so much time chasing after an insane idiot like you."

The thief answered that with another shiver and Shinichi frowned. He finished taking off his jacket and wrapped it around both the thief and himself before zipping up again.

"M-meitantei…" Kid's face grew a darker shade of red.

"Either this or freeze to death. I don't like this either." Shinichi scowled and pulled the thief closer. Even like this, it was still freezing.

They sat like that for a couple of minutes without speaking. Talking would only waste their energy and they didn't need that. The candle was near being burnt out.

Soon, Kid was starting to nod off against Shinichi's body.

"O-oi, Kid, you ass, don't go falling asleep!" Shinichi poked the thief's back. He didn't want Kid to fall asleep tonight, he wasn't sure he would wake if he did.

"Hmmm…I'm not falling asleep." He argued with a mumble and shook his head with a cough. He was still giving off tremors every minute or two but Shinichi could feel the heat radiating off of the thief's body.

He reached out and pressed a hand against the magician's forehead.

"You're burning up like crazy. Why the hell did you pull a heist when you were this bad?"

"….."

"Kid?"

"…B-because…it had to be today…" The thief sneezed this time.

"Huh? What's today?" Shinichi was really confused.

Kid was silent for a second before he started laughing hysterically, making the detective wonder if the fever was getting to him.

"Hehhh, I guess what they say is true. Tantei-kun really is that dense."

"What's today and- hey! Who said that?" Shinichi watched in annoyance as the thief continued giggling like a little schoolgirl high on chocolate.

"I guess there's no helping it….do you know what time it is?" The thief suddenly asked and Shinichi blinked before answering.

"The last time I checked, it was…a little past ten. If my internal clock is still working right then perhaps…a little under two hours had passed since then so probably around...two minutes before midnight?...Why do you ask?"

"Huh, still a few minutes short huh?...Oh well doesn't matter. Consider it an early gift then." Kid chuckled and rustled around, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a thin rectangular box wrapped in brown paper.

"Here." He turned his head to face Shinichi with a smile, handing it to the detective.

"W-what's this for?" He accepted it with a puzzled expression. The thief smiled dazedly and leaned forward.

"Merry Christmas, Shinichi." He finished with a light kiss to the detective's lips.

"W-what?!" Shinichi squeaked and dropped the box in surprise, a finger immediately reached up to touch his lips.

…Merry Christmas?... Everything began to click. The heist….it had taken place on December 24th. Christmas Eve. 'Katherine Stanfield' chose to stick around after the heist. Kid wanted to deliver his gift to Shinichi personally….but wait why did Kid want to give him a present of all people? He didn't get it.

"Oi Kid, what the hell is the meaning of thi-"He looked down and his eyes widen in shock at the sudden limp and unresponsive thief leaning against his chest.

"KID! H-hey, wake up!" Shinichi shook the thief softly at first and harder when the thief didn't even bat an eye at the movement.

"Shit! Damn it, don't die on me now Kid. I won't let you die until we get out of here and you explain yourself, damn it!" The detective hugged the thief closer.

"Merry Christmas? Heh, don't screw with me! Don't just give me a present then pass out. A-and and that kiss. What the heck was that?" He yelled at the thief in his arms.

He sighed at the lack of response and tilted Kid's face towards him. His skin was still red with fever and cold but his expression looked so innocent and pure, asleep and oblivious. His monocle was missing. He probably took it off when he had changed. But Shinichi could care less right now.

"You...are the most complicated case...I've ever encountered." He whispered and he kissed Kid gently.

Then he hugged the thief as tight as he could, trying to conserve as much heat as possible. After another hour of dropping temperatures, Shinichi could feel himself begin to nod off as well.

Maybe...it wouldn't be so bad...to die like this...

Then everything grew dark.

_..._

_Hey! ... I found them!_

_They're in there!_

_...Someone get in there!_

_...Got to them!...They're unconscious!_

_...Someone call the medics!_

_..._

* * *

"...Hungry..." Shinichi muttered out loud with a groan.

"HAH! That's the first thing outta his mouth when he wakes! Told ya the idiot's fine, Ran." At that obnoxious voice, Shinichi's eyes snapped open and he shot up.

"S-Shinichi! You're awake!" He looked over to see Ran sitting besides his bed and one annoyed looking Sonoko standing besides her.

"R-Ran. Wha-"

"Thank god Shinichi, when the rescue team pulled you out of there, I thought..." She was near tears now.

"A-ah! But hey! I'm okay now, aren't I?" He laughed nervously.

"Shinichi! That's not a joke! When they rescued you, they said you had a minor case of frostbite and hypothermia. You could've died!"

"Ran, the detective idiot said he's fine. I think he is too. He's no where as severely hurt as Kuroba-kun."

"Kuroba...?" Shinichi blinked in confusion.

"Um, he's-"

"Don't tell me you forgot about the guy that was stuck in that cabin with you! You know? The guy that you were cuddled up with when they fetched you out? That Kuroba?" Sonoko said with a smug know it all smirk.

"O-oh um him. So ah how is he?" Shinichi sighed in relief, trying to avoid the two girls' stares. So that means Kid is safe...thank god. but for some reason they're calling him Kuroba...so that's his name?

"Kuroba-san is a bit worse off. He had a really high fever, moderate case of frostbite, hypothermia and the flu. He is still unconscious, Nakamori-keibu is with him right now." Ran supplied the answer.

"W-wait Nakamori-keibu is? W-why?" The detective's heart skipped a beat. C-could it be that they figured out he was Kid?

"Because Kuroba-kun is best friends with Nakamori-keibu's daughter of course! You didn't know that?" Sonoko raised an eyebrow.

"N-no...anyways how did you find us in the first place?"

"Because Shinichi didn't come back after the heist! Nakamori-keibu's daughter said Kuroba-san hadn't come back either so we sent out a search party. We searched everywhere and you guys were no where to be found! Then we saw some late night skiers that said they heard an avalanche a few hours ago. Then..." Ran leaned closer and whispered the rest.

"I called Agasa-hakase and he said that you still had Conan's glasses with you. So he used a spare pair and found your exact location. It was a matter of digging through that snow and getting you two out."

"I see..." Shinichi coughed into his hand and turned to get out of bed.

"H-hey where are you going? You're still sick!" Ran stuttered getting up after him.

"I'm going to see Ki-Ku-Kuroba. He saved me from the avalanche." Shinichi went for the door and walked into the hallway. Judging from the looks of it, they were probably in the small medical building connected to the main hotel.

"Kuroba-san is in that room." Ran pointed to the door around the corner and Shinichi nodded.

Kid's room had a glass window that allowed him to see inside.

Inside, laid Kid, or Kuroba or whoever he really was. He was still unconscious but he definitely looked better than last night. That's a relief, Shinichi thought with a sigh.

"He seems to be doing better." Ran smiled and Shinichi nodded, putting his hands in his pockets.

He froze when his fingers wrapped around something familiar and he pulled it out.

The small rectangular parcel.

"They found that lying besides you so they must've put it in your pocket." Ran suggested.

He stared at it for quite some time before carefully pulling the wrapping paper off.

He lifted the lid off and gasped silently.

"Woow, it's so pretty..." Ran peered over his shoulders in awe.

Sitting in the velvet case was a magnify glass. The rim was gold colored and had crystals embedded into it. The handle cherry wood. The word _meitantei_ was carved on the handle in gold.

The detective looked up at the glass window and smiled at the thief warmly.

"...You...like him a lot don't you?" Ran asked quietly, watching Shinichi carefully.

Shinichi blinked and thought about all the events last night. Thought about that kiss.

"Yes...Yes I do." He turned around and began to walk away.

"Shinichi?"

"Let's go Ran. I need to get to that gift shop."

"G-gift shop? It's already Christmas day!"

"I know...think of it as..." He glanced back at the room.

"A late present for an early gift."

**Waaaah it's finished. I feel like an accomplished person. MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY HOLIDAYS. Review if you'd like. It can be your present for me :)**


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